--- title: "Student Story: Master Course by Jenneke of Exile" url: https://staging13.perseusarcaneacademy.com/post/student-story-master-course-by-jenneke-of-exile/ date: 2026-02-02 modified: 2026-07-03 lang: en author: "Perseus Arcane Academy" description: "Introduction This is the first of what I hope to be an ongoing series - Student Stories. I feel it is important that people see meaningful progress if they decide..." categories: - "Franz Bardon" - "Student Story" tags: - "Franz Bardon" - "Hermetics" - "Magic" - "Sixty Skills" image: https://staging13.perseusarcaneacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/ChatGPT-Image-Feb-2-2026-03_49_10-PM-1024x683.png word_count: 549 --- # Student Story: Master Course by Jenneke of Exile ## Introduction This is the first of what I hope to be an ongoing series - Student Stories. I feel it is important that people see meaningful progress if they decide to trust us here at Perseus with their most important commodity, time. So, in this 'Student Story' we hear from *Jenneke of Exile* and their story relates to the Sixty Skills Master Course. They are a great example of a new student coming into a curriculum with no preconceived ideas as to how long it should take. The progress of this student may seem unbelievable to some, but it is by no means rare in the community with many others having a similar timeline. Please let us know your thoughts in the comments and if you would like to share your own story, please send an email to [contact@perseusarcaneacademy.com](mailto:contact@perseusarcaneacademy.com). --- ## Master Course Experience by Jenneke of Exile Franz Bardon's Initiation into Hermetics is widely regarded as the pinnacle of an occult training manual. And yet, it is not an easy read, as many of us can attest. Having heard of it some years ago, I ordered it eagerly but then immediately put it on the shelf after the first handful of pages. It seemed impenetrable, written for a different type of consciousness entirely. It sat there, biding its time, until I came across Bob Smith of Sixty Skills at a Hermetics conference. Bob was giving a talk on the Key to the True Kabbalah. Many of the topics similarly went over my head: the energies of various letters, side effects of practice, etc. But the way he described the topics, as advanced as they were, made it clear they were well within reach of any occultist who truly set their mind to mastering them. Encouraged, I ordered Bob Smith's [Master Course](https://courses.perseusarcaneacademy.com/b/tS1Tn) a few days later and began working through it. The course is a modern reworking of Bardon's system of initiation, with the important and grounding additions of body training and pranayama. I had immediate success mastering vital and astral energy, which encouraged me to move onward toward practicing the elements and accumulating the requisite 40 hours of cumulative practice in order to attain elemental equilibrium. From this point, I advanced to deep experiences of akasha and nondual light. Before I knew it, six months had passed and I had worked through the entirety of the course, experiencing initial successes in even advanced practices such as elementary creation and working with the astral temple. I spent the following year on advanced coursework following the Master Course - Bob's letter and planetary magic classes. About a year after completing my first run through the Master Course, I resolved to read IIH from beginning to end. By this point, its content was familiar, not arcane. Many nuances of Bardon's teachings which would have been inaccessible to me were now surfaced. Bob has a true gift for encouraging the novice student to believe in their ability to experience the depths of magical success, as well as keen insight into how to best sequence one's development. The community that has grown up around the course is also a gem. As with any course, what you get out of it is related to what you put into it, but Bob has done the work to make sure the multiplier on effort is exceptional. In short - highly recommended! --- ## Learn More About Sixty Skills Curriculum https://youtu.be/cdCUS5zRlOo?si=bzdwdCDNw1EcBe_l https://staging13.perseusarcaneacademy.com/post/sixty-skills-master-course-expediting-franz-bardons-initiation-into-hermetics/